Nintendo Exterminating Metroid Bug

Players were met with a permanently locked door in Sector 3, causing many to have to restart their game from the very beginning. Nintendo acknowledged the issue is occurring and will offer a fix to anyone who sends in their game save on a SD card free of charge. The company also offered advice on how to avoid the problem:

Problem: There is a door in Sector 3 that cannot be unlocked and opened. It remains red and locked, making it impossible to advance in the game.

Location Of The Door: The door that remains red and locked is located in the basement of the Desert Refinery in Sector 3. After defeating the crustacean boss enemies located on the top level of the Desert Refinery, an elevator appears that goes down to this area. The door can be found on the other side of the wall from the three Grapple Points.

The Cause Of This Problem And How To Avoid It: This sequence of events will cause the door in Sector 3 to remain locked:

1. In the room after the large lava area in Sector 3, battle the Space Pirates to unlock the Ice Beam.

2. Proceed to the second room ahead.

3. Defeat the enemies with spiked, purple legs to unlock the door at the end of the room.

* - To create the issue: Do not go through this door and instead backtrack to the room where the Ice Beam was obtained. Continuing to play from here creates the issue.

* - To avoid the issue: Proceed through the door that was just unlocked at the end of the room before doing any backtracking to any previous rooms.

Posted below is Nintendo's full statement on the matter:

Nintendo has identified a door in Metroid: Other M that remains red and locked, making it impossible for players to advance in the game. Our support website (http://support.nintendo.com) and our contact center have information that explains what is causing the issue as well as how to avoid it.